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Putin sceptical of new Ukrainian vote

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is sceptical about demands by the Ukrainian opposition to repeat a run-off vote after a contested presidential election.

02 Dec 2004 15:18 GMT

Kuchma (R) is meeting President Putin in a bid to defuse the crisis

"A repeat of the run-off vote may fail to work," Putin told outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on Thursday at a meeting at an airport outside Moscow.

"The re-run can be held twice, three times, 25 times until one of the parties gets the desired result," Putin said.

Kuchma arrived in Moscow to consult Putin on the political crisis sparked by the disputed election in the former Soviet republic.

Kuchma was expected back in Kiev for talks later on Thursday with Ukraine's two rival presidential camps.

Open backing

Putin openly backed pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in a disputed 21 November election and has since sparred with the West over the political crisis engulfing its western neighbour.

Schroeder spoke to Putin overthe phone on the Ukraine issue

The Russian leader was also the first to congratulate Yanukovich with a victory that is now under review by Ukraine's supreme court.

Meanwhile, a German government spokesman reported on Wednesday that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Putin agreed in a telephone conversation that the outcome of any new presidential election in Ukraine "must be strictly respected".

Kuchma held round-table talks on Wednesday in Kiev with Western mediators and the rivals to replace him: the pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko and Yanukovich.

Yushchenko has refused to concede defeat in the election and is demanding a quick re-vote of the 21 November poll in which he would face off against Yanukovich.